January 27, 2010

MMO Magic Inc. is going through another growth spurt as the Citadel of Sorcery project continues to roll. Recently we have added nine new people to the team: 4 artists, 1 Level Designer, 3 Quest Writers and 1 programmer.

There is a lot of work going on in the design team as they write up all the personalities and lives of the NPCs that inhabit our world. This is no simple task as each has their job, hobbies, friends, family, enemies, daily routines, occasional oddities and events, troubles, etc. Work on player Abilities continues to be go through design, though they are still working through phase 3 of that development, having 270 Abilities now confirmed (but that leaves a lot to go still as there are around 1800).

Programming is still buttoning up the new sound module, though we anticipate integration in the next two to three weeks. In addition some bug fixes to the Enact tool continue. Progress has been slow on these bugs, but they are making a concerted (and sleepless) effort to get a new build done by this Friday. The new Terrain system is on hold until that round of bug fixes is complete.

Quest Writing has had some new blood introduced and we are starting to see more progress on these epic quest stories. It's still quite a challenge, but we're seeing good development.

Work on the player races is also developing from a design standpoint and we will release information on a new race sometime next week. Design work and concept drawings for multiple new types of fantasy mounts (not horses) have been developed and are being reviewed for possible inclusion into the game. Additionally, concept and modeling are underway for new monsters for the game, with current work on Maggotmen and Insectoid races of creatures.

People continue to ask when the game will be done, and we continue to tell them when it is finished. We have no idea when that will be, however we can guarantee that although we expect to see great strides forward this year visually, the game will NOT be released in 2010 (and we make no guarantees beyond that either). Really folks, this is new R&D and it will take as long as it takes. The best we can do is keep you informed of progress, (see above) :)